Typed Letter Signed on University of Minnesota letterhead

Minneapolis, 1978. unbound. 2 pages, 11 x 8.5 inches, Minneapolis, August 30, 1978, providing Dr. William B. Rogers with biographical information for an article, in small part: "...History tells us that innovators who attempt to set aside tradition are at great risk. Whereas the first edition of my book on Intestinal Obstructions won the Samuel D. Gross Award in 1935, I had to send the monograph to four publishers before I found a taker. Similarly, a brief report upon suction siphonage of jejunal obstructions was rejected by an experimental as well as surgical journal...In my long years of identification with the problem, since 1925 and with the aid of a large number of proteges who have emerged as great surgeons, an effective attack has been made upon the problem with an astounding reduction in the mortality at the national level...In the mid 1930s, my associates and I were able to establish for the rabbit, chimpanzee, and man that perforation of the appendix is owing to the high secretory pressure within its lumen; when the appendix is obstructed, with a temporary ligature or by a fecalith, pressures exceeding diastolic blood pressure are regularly observed..." Note: a postage stamp and commemorative coin have been proposed to honor career of Dr. Wangensteen. Near fine condition.<br/> <br/> American physician called "The Greatest American Surgeon of the 20th Century." He is credited, during his 37-year tenure at the University of Minnesota, for recognizing the cause of Appendicitis and other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. In 1952 he performed the world's first open heart surgery, his students being none other than Christian N. Barnard, C. Walton Lillehei, and Norman E. Shumway, all of whom performed the first human heart transplants and credited their surgical techniques to Dr. Wangensteen.<br/> <br/>